Gophers open season, WCHA with sweep

So I guess really the Gophers were back last weekend (since I'm behind). But no matter what weekend it really was the Gophers played great this weekend. Both first periods they came out fired up and energized. I really like when tDon starts the all junior line of Lucia-Carmen-Flynn. They always seem to get three shots on their first shift. They looked good this weekend. Actually the whole Junior class did with Mike Carmen, Tony Lucia, Ryan Stoa, and Jay Barriball pitching in goals. I agree with Don Lucia when he says the Junior class needs to lead the team. I thought they definitly did this weekend. Other topics, Special teams were great, The Gophers had a nice power play. They have guys such as Jordan Schroeder and Aaron Ness that can move the puck, and it's already helped. The Gophs move the puck a lot better this year, I have also noticed they shoot more. The only thing that I see a lot of is players dinking around trying to dangle through three players. The Gophs are good at dump and chase, they should try that a little more than trying to do it all themselves. We killed a lot of penalties this weekend, specificly Friday. I have no idea what game the refs were watching but it wasn't ours. I'm not just saying this for the Gophers, there were a couple questionable calls on both sides. The new rules, some are okay others I don't like. I HATE THE ICING RULE! I always thought that was lame. It takes away from the game anyway, nothing exciting happens when the teams are gased. The ref rule we kind of had a taste of last year. I don't mind it so much, but the whole protecting the skaters thing gets old when there is a penalty every two seconds. When that happens it's not a hockey game, it's a basketball game. On the topic of the protecting the skaters thing, that doesn't really work if you call hooks, slashes, and trips but you don't call CHECKING FROM BEHIND! It doesn't work that way, you don't just watch for the little things that slow a guy down, you also look for the major things that could send him to the hospital! End of rant. Anyway the Gophers are playing the Badgers next(Tonight =p). This should be a good series hopefully. The Badgers may be 0-4 but it never matters how bad these teams are, they always find a way to make it a good series!

GOPHERS @ ST.CLOUD FRIDAY
1st Period Scoring:
MINN: Tony Lucia Mike Carmen/Ryan Flynn
SCSU: John Swanson Jared Festler/Sam Zabkowicz

1st Period Penalties:
SCSU: Chris Hepp Interference
Garret Roe Slashing
Travis Novak Tripping
David Carlisle Roughing

MINN: Mike Carmen Slashing
Cade Fairchild Interference
Jay Barriball Roughing
Mike Hoeffle FM... I don't know what that means.

2nd Period Scoring:
MINN Ryan Stoa Jorda Schroeder/David Fischer

2nd Period Penalties:
SCSU Chris Hepp Tripping

MINN: Jake Hansen Cross-Checking
Mike Carmen Hooking
Tony Lucia Boarding
Cade Fairchild Cross-Checking

3rd Period Scoring:
MINN: Mike Carmen Jordan Schroeder/Ryan Stoa
SCSU: Garret Raboin Garret Roe/Jared Festler

3rd Period Penalties:
SCSU: Aaron Marvin Tripping
Jared Festler Hooking

MINN: Patrick White Tripping
Mike Carmen Interference
Mike Hoeffel Charging
R.J. Anderson Hooking

SAVES:
Alex Kangas 22 Saves
Jase Weslowsky 32 Saves

Three Stars
1. Ryan Stoa
2. Mike Carmen
3. Jordan Schroeder

GOPHERS VS ST. CLOUD SATURDAY
1st Period Scoring
MINN: Mike Carmen Ryan Flynn

1st Period Penalties:
MINN: Mike Hoeffel Hooking
Mike Carmen Boarding
Ryan Flynn Roughing
Ryan Stoa Interference

SCSU: Brent Borgen Tripping
Garret Roe Kneeing... =)
Aaron Marvin Cross-Checking
Ryan Lasch Slashing
David Carlisle Holding

2nd Period Scoring:
NONE

2nd Period Penalties
SCSU: Ryan Peckskamp Hooking
Ryan Lasch Holding

3rd Period Scoring:
MINN Jay BarriballJordan Schroeder/Ryan Stoa
SCSU: Drew LeBlanc Travis Novak

3rd Period Penalties
MINN: Jay Barriball High Sticking
Tony Lucia Tripping

SCSU: Aaron Marvin Slashing

Saves:
Alex Kangas 27 Saves
Jase Weslowsky 28 Saves

Three Stars
1. Alex Kangas
2. Jay Barriball
3. Jase Weslowsky